Birds Fly
by Meadowlark12
Summary: A oneshot. Derek's complicated choice and Dr. Bailey's subtle influence.


_A/N: Hi. This is a very short take on how things might have ended up a little less heavy. It takes place somewhere in late season 2 and it's open end. But knowing me, it's obviously addek._

_I'm on my phone and it's past midnight, please excuse some possible errors. _

_You're already great for coming here at all_!

**...**

* * *

**BIRDS FLY**

The darkened shape of a bird with its wings fully spread out makes a sharp contrast with the unusually clear sky. Light blue and free of clouds.

One single free flying bird.

"Shepherd." Dr. Bailey exhales after having followed his gaze. He's brought back to the outdoor cafeteria with the sound of her voice.

"May I?" She gestures towards the seat next to him, he nods once.

He looks back up, his hands intertwined resting between his chest and stomach. His breathing is so calm he might as well be asleep.

She could ask what he's thinking, but she ponders this is a right time to be listened. She'd sworn to herself not to get involved, she knows no in-between, either she cares or she doesn't. These people, -everybody involved: Richard with his insistence on fathering them, her interns having to choose what to prioritize in each loyalty test when it comes to their careers and their friends, Addison who she's drawn to by all means now, Meredith struggling to crawl the rocky road she never asked for and is too young to be undertaking, Derek in all his middle life crisis reaching out to her for reasons she still doesn't understand but is far too involved to question - they have found their way into her heart and she was raised to share whatever her resources were, either it was bread or warmth.

With much of her life to focus on, her growing career, and the specific duties of this day: she chooses to sit here. Damn her caring mother and the catholic guilt of putting yourself aside and rub people's back.

"You're not hovering.", Derek is looking gratefully at her.

She's taken aback and into the scene she put herself in.

"I-", she shrugs. "You get enough of that. 'Guess you can use some quiet.", but wait, _quiet_ got Derek Shepherd's marriage into this to begin with, so she rephrases: "Not too much quiet. Quiet as in avoiding people who love you is not… _good_ quiet."

He tries not to smile. God forbid she'd think she's not taken seriously.

"This is 'quiet' as in: take your time but be a good man kinda 'quiet'. Make choices." She shakes her head after hearing herself. So much for not hovering.

He looks back up, she joins him. It's a group now, birds crossing the sky and tracing paths, dancing around.

"Birds fly." She thinks out loud.

He stays silent and so she keeps going.

"Mamma'd say that when I'd get the blues 'bout any thing. Ever heard that story?."

"I'm not religious.", he points out but his tone is not dismissive.

"Right. Well: birds know that no matter what, they will be provided with food. Their, uh, seeds, or whatever they eat. They only care to find a place to sleep, they travel together. Birds don't worry. They know Mother Earth, the universe, whatever it is, will feed them. So they fly. They know they'll survive.", she smiles to herself as the familiar perspective works on her.

Derek is looking at the table now.

"This-", she stops to find the right word, "... storm" too dramatic, but he'll get it, "ain't gonna kill you, Shepherd."

You put yourself between two very fine women and expect me to make the choice for you.

"You won't tell me what to do, right. But, just, what would you do?"

She raises her eyebrows, "You are getting wiser."

He rests his cheek bone on his fisted hand, his full attention on her.

A bird lands on the table with enough grace as for it not to be ignored, his feathers reflecting sunlight.

Bailey looks at it, "what do we do, pal?", she asks.

The bird opens his wings and flies away.

Derek exhales.

"Now, would you look at that.", Bailey says as they see it join the fellow fliers in the still clear sky.

"I'd say, Shepherd, that things happen. People happen. But then we end up okay. Perhaps take yourself lighter.", she shrugs again, that's all she's got for now.

"Thanks.", Derek leans back on his chair.

"If you'll excuse me, I have a job to get back to. I don't get to go moping around being a rockstar surgeon and a mess of a person. Not yet, at least." She pats his shoulder and leaves before he can speak.

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**_..._**

_Thank you for reading. _

_I wish you all a lighter mood and a Bailey in your life! And if there's not one, we can always write her. _

_Happy Wednesday. _


End file.
